Chapter 240

〈 Chapter 240 〉 Part 1, Chapter 11, Section 10

After the reorganization of the Blue Wind Sect, I sought out Hikari to recover the Cube. Hikari, who had briefly returned to Seoul, responded to my summons before heading back down to New Seoul, and I demanded the return of the Cube.

“Yes. Understood.”

Surprisingly, Hikari readily handed over the Cube. As I received this omnipotent item so effortlessly, Hikari seemed almost enlightened like a Daoist sage.

“Why on earth?”

“I’ve finished all the research that could be done. World-ending switches or whatnot… further study would only cause accidents. This stuff is no fun.”

“…What did you say?”

“I finished yesterday. If we had another Cube, cross-verification would suffice, but it probably wouldn’t differ much. Thanks for lending it. Sect Leader… oh, Phoenix Sir now, right?”

The Cube suddenly felt trivial in my hand. Hikari yawned and prepared to leave for Gwanak, but I stopped her as she headed toward the Gwanak station.

“I’ll take you. Wait a moment. You fully deciphered the Cube?”

“Up to what can be deciphered? Initially, this thing requires at least level 95 to use.”

“S+.”

“Pfft, mixing terms confuses people. Compromise says S Rank end-level is required to barely use it. I wish I could use it, but alas.”

Hikari glared at me while licking her lips.

“Rather, I find interest in you, Phoenix Sir.”

“Huh?”

“The way you construct your body… it’s fascinating. So, how about becoming my test subject?”

“What kind of research are you planning?”

A genius who comprehended future technology just through keywords, developed and mass-produced it, and supposedly completely deciphered an alien artifact called the Cube within a month.

What kind of experiments does such a genius want to conduct on my body? My mouth watered involuntarily.

“Hehehe, nothing big.”

Hikari stroked my hand with a sinister smile.

“If we understand the technique of creating magic power and forming the body like this, not only spirits but also ordinary special ability users might be able to alter their bodies, right?”

“To use for what?”

“To make my brother more manly!”

Hikari raised both arms wide and began revealing her research plan.

“My brother’s biggest trauma is his appearance, you see? Honestly, I hate saying it, but he’s prettier than me, which looks really awkward. Though I love him as my brother, sometimes he feels more like a sister. We’re always teased if we go somewhere, asking if we’re siblings. And because of that, my brother has lost his temper multiple times, nearly killing people.”

“So he became known as the Murderous Ghost and was forcibly recruited into the Round Table.”

Gawein personally beat him with a sword to bring Hayate into the Round Table, igniting the rosy fantasies of some female fans worldwide.

“Yes! Thanks to that, my brother can’t even return home, and I suffered bullying… uh, slip of the tongue. Anyway, Phoenix Sir must have already learned all this from the future, right?”

“Yes. I heard it directly from you.”

Since Hikari was one of the heroines, I didn’t hide the fact. Hikari had already realized she was one of the candidates.

“Of course. Then, may I ask…”

“Yes.”

“Did the project to make my brother more masculine succeed?”

“……Are you curious about that?”

For someone as sharp as Hikari, it was a silly question, but it still felt different from others’ reactions, making the situation oddly interesting.

“Aren’t you curious about what kind of relationship our future selves had?”

“? Why would you be curious about that? It’s merely a possible outcome. There’s no such thing as a predetermined future. Everything happens organically through relationships where the most probable events become reality.”

“But isn’t the world’s destruction 100% certain?”

“Pfft, contradiction. Phoenix Sir believes that 100% certainty is uncertain, which is why you’re trying to prevent the world’s destruction, right?”

“……That’s true.”

I received an insightful answer from the 15-year-old Hikari. I gently patted her head, and Hikari opened her mouth wide in surprise.

“Does future me like this kind of thing?”

“Yes. Extremely. Very much.”

Nade-style affection, they call it.

Having lost her parents early and fled Japan to Korea, only to be abducted by Seongsong Gang Soyeon and forced into research during her childhood—perhaps due to these hardships—the original Hikari was quite needy for affection.

“Hmm…this isn’t bad either! Hehe.”

Hikari enjoyed my patting and giggled happily.

“Hikari. Is there anything you want? I’ll grant it.”

“Hmm, can you let me meet my brother?”

“Which one? The Gale Guest? We don’t know where he is-”

“No. Brother Seung-hyeong. About Hwakwon-ouch!”

Without realizing, I scratched Hikari’s scalp with my nails.

“I’m sorry.”

After quickly apologizing, I neatly gathered Hikari’s messy hair.

“But Hikari, you know better than anyone else how much I dislike him, right?”

“But Phoenix Sir, he saved me. I want to help him in various ways.”

“……Hmm.”

As if to confirm being the DLC protagonist, she’s already planting strong flags with the heroine.

“……Do you really like Seung-hyeong?”

“I admire him as a life-saving benefactor. Um, if you mean romantic feelings… hahaha.”

Hikari chuckled, finding it amusing herself.

“If I said I liked someone, that person’s neck would be flying off, right?”

“……Indeed, there’s a crazy guy who cuts off wrists for sending love letters.”

“That crazy guy is my only blood relative and my brother, but since it’s such madness, I don’t feel like defending him as family. So, can Phoenix Sir help me at least?”

Hikari earnestly grabbed my hand.

“Our brother Seung-hyeong’s neck should not fall to our brother’s sword.”

“……This is the first time I’ve ever received such a request.”

“You know our brother’s personality, right? No matter how much he’s the one who saved my life, if he sees me getting close to someone romantically, he’ll go ballistic and draw his sword.”

Looking at Himaji Hayate through the eyes of a normal person is inappropriate. After all, he’s the notorious villain forcefully seated at the Round Table.

Still, talking about this with his only sibling…

“Himeji Hayate is indeed a madman.”

“So, can you strengthen Seung-hyeong?”

“Not necessarily strengthening, but ensuring Seung-hyeong survives. Either by making him stronger or taming our brother’s temper.”

“How?”

“By turning him into a muscular macho man. By mastering the art of altering special ability users’ bodies.”

…I faced a significant problem.

“Hikari.”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember something I said before?”

“Which…one?”

My serious tone made Hikari tense up, her body stiffening. But instead of easing her tension, I increased the pressure, even using magic power.

“When I said let your brother be himself.”

“……I don’t quite understand. Did future me do something terrible?”

“Yes. Because you were the younger sister, you survived long enough to commit an unforgivable act.”

“……”

Hikari’s breath caught. I patted her back to steady her spirit, but she couldn’t calm down easily.

“What exactly did future me do…?”

“Future you grew up in far worse conditions than now. Regardless of that, future you tried every research method to make Gale Guest more manly. And then….”

I deeply debated whether I should tell this minor, but I couldn’t stop mid-way. For Hikari’s sake, for Gale Guest’s sake.

“……Your research failed, turning your brother into a sister.”

“Huh.”

Hikari’s face contorted beyond description.

“Is future me an idiot? How could such a research failure happen?”

“……Don’t insult the Himeji Hikari I know. That child endured dozens of times more pain than what you’ve experienced so far.”

“Even so, how could… ah, this…!”

Current Hikari was utterly flustered by future Hikari’s actions, yet she couldn’t accept having ‘failed.’

“Do you know how it failed?”

“No, but I do know one thing.”

I briefly mentioned future possibilities to Hikari.

* * *

Original story.

So, the 5-year future I claim to have regressed from. Hikari is rescued by the Divine Officer group and reveals the dangers of the Cube to the world.

Hikari, aboard the current Baegnaroh, serves as a researcher modifying the party’s weapons and suits, enhancing their special abilities, acting as an NPC-like companion.

Naturally, as a heroine, she has her own personal route, and Gale Guest, her only brother, can only be recruited as an ally in Hikari’s route.

As a woman.

Himeji Hayate transforms into a woman due to a failed experiment in his younger sister’s personal route and ultimately becomes a double layer with the protagonist, reverting to a man.

Himeji Hayate (female) was so popular that they created a separate character for her. More popular than Hikari.

…Though I explored the bonus scene out of necessity, I never knew him as a man. If it were mandatory, I would’ve abandoned the route entirely.

Thankfully, the developers included a ‘skip function.’

I couldn’t muster the courage to experience the scene directly, so I skipped it and sealed the memory forever.

Later details were confirmed only through someone else’s experience on the wiki. Despite being formerly male, there are plenty of people who chant “as long as there’s a hole, it’s possible.”

– Drenched in a lethal dose of sleeping pills, Hayate is reluctantly explored by the protagonist at Hikari’s request. Awakening midway, Hayate wants to kill the protagonist but succumbs to the pleasures of the female body.

– …However, the experiment to revert Hayate fails, and he renounces the name Himeji Hayate, living as sisters with Hikari under a new name.

This is the only route to recruit Gale Guest as an ally. Only those who have directly experienced it can use Gale Guest as an ally, a mission impossible for me.

…There was no need to mention the story where the awakened protagonist decides whether Hayate lives as a man or as Himeji Hitomi after the Blazing Phoenix’s death.

* * *

“The name is Himeji Hitomi.”

“……This feels extremely dirty and nasty somehow.”

“I’m sorry. I got too curious.”

‘The producers’ ugly desire to somehow include a Yamato Nadeshiko sister sandwich.’

If they wanted that, why didn’t they just make Hayate female from the start? Nonetheless, Hayate is a tragic figure destined for such misfortune.

“So, don’t rashly research body alterations. Understand? If you don’t want to turn your brother into a sister.”

“……No. Rather, I must research more.”

“Is this girl even listening to me?”

Why do these heroines nowadays refuse to listen to me one by one? While reflecting on whether I’ve been too lenient lately, Hikari placed her hands on her waist, striking a confident pose.

“Future me’s failed experiments will succeed for past-present me! There’s nothing greater than surpassing myself! So, Phoenix Sir, please help me so I don’t turn my brother into a sister!”

“So, you shouldn’t be doing this research, right?”

“Pfft, come on~ Researching might even help enlarge our brother’s… you know… place! Right?! He sighs quietly, if not openly, about being small!”

“How would you know that?!”

“I saw when we entered the mixed hot spring bath!”

“Hmph.”

My jaw dropped. To what extent do these siblings’ unrealistic traits soar toward fantasy?

“So, you really want to enlarge your brother’s… area?”

“It’s necessary for him to live confidently as a man, isn’t it? His twisted root lies there!”

“……True. That’s right.”

His sensitive reaction to feminine appearances stems from another reason. Lacking confidence there, his male self-esteem hits rock bottom.

“When people call him feminine, it’s because his inferiority complex distorts his perception, but honestly speaking, th-that…”

Hikari lowered her head, embarrassed to speak.

“Is he small?”

“KYAAAH?!”

Hikari screamed.

“Be careful! Our brother remembers everything he hears because he’s overly sensitive!”

“……Understood. Tch. No, wait.”

I changed my mind.

“Could this work well enough to fully turn Gale Guest into an ally?”

What are the conditions for recruiting allies? Offering something the opponent finds irresistible, right?

“Hikari, can you really conduct good research?”

“Yes! Just leave it to me!”

Hikari showed more enthusiasm than ever. Although it was somewhat concerning that the results of this research might affect Seung-hyeong, sacrificing myself to turn a member of the Round Table from foe to ally would be worth it.

“……I can only spare about an hour a day.”

“That’s enough! KYAAH!”

Hikari clapped her hands and jumped around. What could possibly be so great?

“Now my brother won’t hysterically complain to me about being small! HAHAHA!”

“……”

Cube recovery complete.

After setting an appointment time with Hikari in my schedule, I moved on to the next location.